More on Reed Larson

As Campaign for Liberty Chairman Ron Paul was gracious enough to mention in his tribute to Reed Larson, I was one of the many liberty activists who got their start working for Mr. Larson at the National Right to Work Committee. I would like to take this opportunity to share a few thoughts:

In my three years at Right to Work, I was always impressed by how Mr. Larson (or RL as the staff called him) treated all employees with respect. In the pre-Internet age, he made a point of personally handing out our paychecks (or paystubs) so he could have an opportunity to spend some time chatting with every member of the staff — from the VP’s to the part-time employees in the mail room.

I was also impressed by his commitment to principle and his unwillingness to compromise or back down from threats or bullying by politicians or bureaucrats.

One of my favorite memories of him is a memo he sent to the staff saying that he had heard the Post Office was investigating certain businesses to ensure the businesses were using Federal Express when they had a legitimate need to ship something overnight and not as a means to avoid using the Post Office. RL instructed the staff that if the Post Office showed up in our offices we were to be sufficiently uncooperative.

Mr. Larson was thrilled when I went to work for Ron Paul, not so much because I was going to Capitol Hill but because I was going to work for one of the few politicians he knew shared his willingness to stick to his pro-liberty principles in the face of pressure from the GOP establishment.

I am sadden by his passing, but I am grateful for having worked for Reed Larson and benefiting from the example he set for all who worked for him. I (and many others) also owe him a debt for showing us that adhering to principle increases your effectiveness.